How to Fix a Bootloop on Your Android Device

There are few tech-related feelings as grim as realising you’re stuck in a bootloop. That desperate hope that “maybe it’ll be okay eventually,” is combined with that deep-seated fear that in rooting your device (when so many bootloops occur), you’ve destroyed it forever while voiding its warranty.

But enough morbid talk. While bootloops are frustrating and may well result in you having to wipe all the data from your device, they almost certainly don’t mean your device is dead, so relax! Here’s our guide on how to fix the dreaded bootloop on Android devices.

First, the Obvious Stuff

It goes without saying that you should try the simple solutions before attempting anything more drastic. In this case if you’re stuck in a bootloop, remove the battery from the back of your device, then wait a few minutes before putting it back in and turning on your phone.

Some users have also reported that getting a new battery for their phone got rid of the bootloop issue, suggesting that, in some cases at least, a bootloop can be related to a battery-related bug.

Didn’t work? Okay, then we’ll need to look at factory-resetting your device, then using a Recovery tool.

Getting into Android Recovery Mode

Whatever you do, you’ll need to do it from your Android recovery screen. Getting to this depends on what kind of phone you have. After making sure your phone is off, press and hold the following buttons to access recovery:

Google Pixel/Nexus: Press and hold the Power and Volume Down keys simultaneously.

Samsung: Press and hold the Power, Volume Up and Home buttons simultaneously.

HTC: First, go to “Settings -> Battery” and uncheck the Fastboot box. Then, with your phone off, press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously

LG: Press and hold the Power and Volume Down keys simultaneously, and when the LG logo appears, let go of the Power key and press it again while still holding Volume Down (complicated, I know).

Once you’re in Recovery Mode, you can use the volume buttons to go up and down in the list and the power button to make a selection.

Fix Android Bootloop Using Stock Recovery

So once you’ve used one of the above methods to get into your Android Recovery. From here use the volume keys to navigate down to “Wipe data/factory reset.” When prompted, tap “Yes.”

After that, use the volume keys to select “wipe cache partition” and proceed to do that. Your Android device is now wiped. Reboot it and it should load to whatever ROM or OS you’re using without the dreaded bootloop.

Fixing Bootloop with the Custom Recovery

If you’ve rooted your Android device, there’s a good chance you’re using a custom recovery tool like TWRP or Clockworkmod which will make the exact steps of wiping your phone a little different. The good thing is that you’ll also get the option to back up your Android data before you wipe it.

In TWRP Recovery, for example, first go to “Backup” from the main menu, select all the data you want to save, then swipe across the bottom of the screen to back it up.

Next, to wipe the existing data from your phone, select “Wipe” from the TWRP main menu, then swipe right at the bottom of the screen to wipe your phone data, cache and dalvik. (There are also more elaborate “Advanced Wipes” that you can do, but these can lead to complications and require you to fully reinstall your OS, which you probably want to avoid). If you want to restore the data you backed up, go back into TWRP Recovery and select “Restore”.

If you’re using Clockworkmod, then from the main recovery screen, select “Wipe Data/Factory Reset” and go ahead with the procedure.

If that doesn’t work, head to “Mounts and Storage” in Clockworkmod, tap the “format /data” and “format /cache” options, then reboot again.

Conclusion

It’s not the prettiest process, but tough times call for tough measures, and an Android bootloop is definitely a sticky situation to find yourself in. You may lose some data if you haven’t taken the right backup precautions here, but at least your phone’s working again. Just think of it as a fresh start!

OK so maketecheasier just posted this but is showing comments from THREE YEARS AGO… For anyone who may be looking at a solution, if reloading the ROM doesn’t work you probably have bad bootloader and will require serious help. The phone manufacturer should be able to help but check xda-developers.com first, this the place where android developers go to so you’re likely to find help there.

Like I said in my reply to the other poster (don’t know what maketecheasier was thinking posting something that apparently has already been around for THREE YEARS), if that doesn’t work first load the ROM from the PC using the serial connector (so that your can write the file directly to the android device while it is off – similar to transferring a backup image to a fresh hard drive on a PC after corruption or hardware failure), if that doesn’t work you need to make sure the bootloader is not corrupted (akin to the boot sector on a PC hard drive). Unfortunately manufacturers more and more lock the boot sectors of their devices so it isn’t an easy task and your best bet would be to visit xda-developer.com where all the android experts hang out.

My samsung galaxy tab smt350 started crashing often and my efforts to rectify it ended in bootloop problem. As long as it is connected it will be working once the charger connection severed it wil either crash or will stuck in boot menu. I took many corrective steps except phone reset with zero result. I visited various forums/sites including this and concluded my problem is hardware related one. I opened the fans and put extra tapes on the connectors of the battery pressed the tapes hardly, and closed the tab. Now the problem solved and the tab is working as a new one. Many thanks for forums/sites lik yours. ___ dhanasekaran ramasamy